IV. Initial Steps in Creating Partnerships

The first steps you take in creating partnerships in your community will depend on your particular circumstances. There will be many variables, both internal and external, that will determine what are necessary actions and what has already been accomplished. In order to provide support to the largest number of family literacy practitioners and those interested in the field, the following steps assume you are in the initial stages of creating a community partnership.

Establishing a context: Reflecting on community needs and resources

Before you begin looking for community partners, you need to establish a context and a clear understanding of what you are looking for, and where you will look.

What caused you to consider family literacy in the first place? Was it because you saw a need in the community that could be addressed by this kind of program? But what do we mean by "community"? When you consider delivering a family literacy program, and looking for community partners, who does that include, and in what area?

What do you already know about the needs in your community? Perhaps your work has given you insight into the needs and challenges faced by families and individuals. Perhaps literacy has been identified as an important part of community development.

On the other hand, you might know of another agency that is delivering support to families that seems similar in many ways to family literacy programming. Or you might know someone who is working with a group of people who would be just perfect for your first class. You need to consider what services already exist in your community that relate to family literacy.

To organize your thoughts on needs and resources in your community, turn to Worksheet 1 at the back of this manual, and spend a few moments answering the questions there. Don't worry about researching needs and resources at this point; that will be done more systematically later in the process. For now, just use your own knowledge of the community to reflect and develop a context for the work you're going to do.